Jock Talk! Where sports is a lifestyle.
Congrats to Canadian James Paxson for pitching a no-hitter in Toronto against his boyhood team being the Blue Jays. Paxton now joins Dick Fowler of the 1945 Philadelphia Athletics as the only Canucks to throw a no-no. Nice to see the Rogers Centre crowd understand the significance of what Paxton did. The standing ovation was well deserved. Also impressive is the fact the British Columbia native accomplished this historical feat tossing only 99 pitches. This marks the 3rd no-hitter in the Majors thus far this season. The dominance shown by the burly Paxton makes him a candidate to repeat the feat sometime soon.
Thanks Coach! Classy, respectful and genuine are the words that come to mind from what I’ve seen of Dwane Casey. Seeing the Raptors get swept by the Cavs was certainly disheartening but far from the worst thing to happen to the franchise. Sure, some of the moves Coach made were questionable but many moves were brilliant. He put the motor in the young guys who formed the Bench Mob. At the end of the day the players are the ones out on the court playing. Casey can’t stick their jimmy’s or force them to be more aggressive. A subtle change to player personal was all that was needed. After all it was GM Masai Ujiri who gave big contracts to Serge Ibaka and Norm Powell, both of whom were ineffective for long stretches during the playoffs.
Oh, and let’s not forget about Masai drafting Bruno Caboclo. Mr. KD 2.0 huh?, that was never to be. Subsequently Bruno was traded to the Sacramento Kings this year for a bag of chips and a stick of gum. Both DeMar and Kyle credit coach as the one who helped develop their respective careers. On top of that, NBA coaches voted Coach Casey as the NBA Coach of the Year for the 2017-18 season. It is what it is, in my opinion the Raptors did Casey wrong. Lee Majors, Fall Guy, and unfortunately Coach is forced to play the role. No worries though, as the old saying goes, can’t keep a good man down.
Congrats to Manchester City for a record-setting season in the EPL. Pep Guardiola’s side amassed a 100 points and 32 wins, first team to ever put up those numbers. In Guardiola, they have a manager who has now won consecutive league titles at former clubs Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah broke the Premier League scoring record for a 38-game season, with 32 tallies. Salah also was undeniably named the player of the year. A phenomenal display of footwork from a superb striker with the gift of scoring.
Arsenal sent their manager of 22 seasons home with a victory. Arsene Wenger received many standing ovation throughout the match. The prized manager commandeered 1,236 games, notched 707 wins, 7 FA Cups and 3 EPL titles. Farewell coach, legend!
NHL Playoffs: Jets! Jets! Jets! Love seeing these guys rack up wins. Going down to Music City America and winning that Game 7 vs the Predators was no easy task. Then to reboot and get the jump on the Golden Knights is hardcore impressive. Could this be the year they win the Stanley Cup? I’ll be rooting for them to go all the way. Somewhere, Dale Hawerchuk is smiling. Favourite Jets player ever.
Washington Capitals, who I forgot to mention last week, keep on ticking. Despite some terrible officiating still managed to get up on the Bolts. As a Penguins fan, please see with me as to why I dislike the Caps. Still, I respect how balanced this team is, and overall they look to be firing on all cylinders. Money though, still banks on Tampa bouncing back and taking the series.
NBA Playoffs: Celtics continue their magical playoffs run. Handling Philly was one thing, but to beat down on the Cavs in Game 1 was truly remarkable. Let’s see if they can keep on keeping on. And that bromance between Terry Rozier and Drew Bledsoe has been entertaining to watch. Stand up cats! That’s the way to bring two different eras together as one. Cavs are in for dog fight, they better pull up or get tossed. Brad Stevens is proving to be quite a foe for opposing coaches. I personally hope they knock the king off his throne.
Warriors, Rockets series ought to go 7 games. Two evenly matched teams who look forward to colliding on the hardwood. I got the Warriors winning the series and making another appearance in NBA Finals. KD, Steph, Klay and Draymond are just too much for them boys in H-Town. We shall see though.
The Supreme Court struck down a federal law that prohibits sports gambling Monday in a landmark decision that gives states the go-ahead to legalize betting on sports. The court ruled 6-3 to strike down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, a 1992 law that barred state-authorized sports gambling with some exceptions. It made Nevada the only state where a person could wager on the results of a single game.
Quick Hits: Never wanna see a guy struggle the way Orioles Dylan Bundy did vs the Royals. To be now known as the first pitcher to give up four jacks without recording an out in the first inning is no stat a pitcher wants … Longtime defensive back DeAngelo Hall made official what had been expected: He’s done playing football. Happy teails … Congrats to Webb Simpson for winning the Players Championship … Tiger slowly looking like the Tiger of old … Team Canada bounced back from a disappointing loss to Finland by handling Latvia at the Worlds … Kevin Harvick (5 wins) and Kyle Busch (3 wins) have been the dominant cars of 2018, but don’t count out Joey Logano as the race for the regular-season Cup title starts to heat up.
Jock Talk with JD: Track of the Week
My track of the week pick goes out to the Rascalz. I don’t know these guys at all besides a one-two times I hailed them up at industry functions. But I rate the Van City lyricists for being true pioneers to the culture of hip-hop in Canada. My choice from their catalogue of songs is, “Top of the World” featuring Barrington Levy and k-os (another legend).
Thanks for reading.
Have a blessed week. Stay way up!
Your boy,
Click here for more from Jock Talk with JD and be sure to follow @JockTalk18 on Twitter.
